Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a great day.

Have you ever seen Everybody Loves Raymond? If you haven't it is a TV show where a younger couple lives across the street from his overbearing parents.  The parents, Frank and Marie, bicker all the time.  They are full of insults for each other and snarky comments.  At one point the younger couple realizes that it is the way they communicate and show affection for each other.  This makes me wonder whether it is better to keep any complaints to yourself in a relationship or let them be known? For us, I think we do a combo.  We usually have a blowout fight once or twice a year to clear the air.  Frankly, I find it exhausting. Sometimes it is just easier to let things go, pick your battles as they say.  In books, those festering feelings make for a great plot.

I recently read Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney.  This author is responsible for many great books, including the very popular Rock, Paper, Scissors.  In this story we are following a couple, Grady and Abby.  Grady is a bestselling author.  One night, he is waiting for his wife to come home.  She is late and he is on the phone with her as she drives.  Suddenly she brakes sharply as there is a body in the road.  He implores her not to get out of the car, but she feels she must offer assistance.  Grady never hears from his wife again.  Her car is found near a cliff with her belongings, but no Abby.  A year later, Grady is a broken man.  He misses his wife.  He drinks too much, has spent his book money and is up against a deadline to produce another great novel.  The problem, he hasn't been able to write since his wife disappeared.  In desperation, his agent, Kitty, who is also Abby's godmother, offers him a deal.  She has inherited a remote cabin on a secluded Scottish island.  There is nothing to do there but be inspired by the beauty, rest, and write.  In need of both a hit book and a place to live, Grady accepts Kitty's gracious offer and heads to the island.  Of course, being a Alice Feeney novel, all is not what it appears.  Grady is most certainly an unreliable narrator, especially as he starts seeing his wife everywhere. The people on the island bring their own charm, mystery and creepiness.

This book will grab your attention and not let it go.  Seriously, don't start it if you have things to do.  As I've said repeatedly, I am a pokey reader, and I read 280 pages yesterday.  I just couldn't resist.  I figured out part of what was going on about halfway through but was shocked at the ending.  This book is a total escape and very fun.  Makes me wonder what Alice Feeney will think of next.

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a great day.

I know I've told you about my fabulous niece before, but she is becoming a huge problem.  She makes me green with jealousy. I know that is cliche, but I don't mean a little green, picture the Hulk meets the Jolly Green Giant green. Not only is she an artist, like a real, trained artist. But she can pick creative things up in a second.  She watched a YouTube video about crocheting and whipped out blankets and purses.  I can sew and embroider and desperately want to crochet.  I watched the same video, thinking it was the holy grail.  I would be on my way to yarny goodness.  Yeah....she watches and made a blanket...I watched and made a giant knot.  I've tried DOZENS of times, lots.  I'm not exaggerating.  Now hubby is buying me different kinds of yarn, thinking I cannot possibly be so inept.  Yet, I fear this is a craft that was made specifically for the octopus.  I cannot do it. Last weekend was Mother's Day.  My niece (who cooks, without any training, naturally) made a triple layer cake for her mom.  No big deal.  Except she piped the most beautiful flowers on top.  I can make roses, but my mom taught me when I was a kid. My niece apparently communed with the frosting gods, said "Om" a few times and whipped up perfect flowers of several varieties out of thin air.  I give up.  I need a vacation.  Somewhere tropical with clear blue water, perfect breezes and men serving drinks wearing nothing but fig leaves that speak absolutely no English.  Okay, that may be overreaching...

I recently read The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren.  The author is a pen name for the writing team of best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings.  This is the story of a couple, Liam and Anna.  They have married during college for cheap housing.  Unknown to Anna, it also helps Liam in another way.  He is the heir to a sizeable fortune but must be married for five years before he can collect.  This inheritance isn't known to Anna because she and Liam don't really know each other.  They live in the same apartment but just as roommates.  This poses a huge problem as Liam's sister is getting married and his family is demanding to meet his wife of almost five years.  The wedding is of the destination sort, on a private island with blue water and huts suspended over the rolling waves. Not only does the couple married for years know nothing of each other, but Liam's family is a huge problem.  Rich, entitled, judgmental and rude, they are waiting to scrutinize Liam's wife and their relationship.

This book was fun.  Not only was the situation amusing but the writing is laugh out loud funny.  This story will have you entranced and glad to have your life instead of this wealthy family's. If you're having a tough week, read this.  If you are going on vacation, this is a no brainer.  A blast and one of the few books I wish I could read again for the first time. Now that is a good one!